Nate Ament injury update: Tennessee star's status vs. Auburn revealed

Tennessee freshman Nate Ament is expected to play today against Auburn in the SEC Tournament, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Ament missed Tennessee’s previous two games due to a leg injury.

Thamel further reported that it’s unclear how many minutes Ament will play, but he is expected to attempt to play. Ament suffered his injury in the first half of Tennessee’s 71-69 loss to Alabama on Feb. 28.

Ament’s injury occurred when Alabama guard Latrell Wrightsell dove after a loose ball and hit Ament’s leg. Ament folded backward with his leg trapped underneath him. He walked off the court on his own power, but was in visible pain.

With Ament sidelined, the Volunteers went 1-1 in their following two games. The former five-star prospect is averaging 17.4 points, a team-high 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game this season, while shooting 41.4% from the field and 32.8% from beyond the arc.

When Tennessee played Auburn earlier this season, Ament recorded 22 points and eight rebounds on 4-16 shooting from the floor, but a 12-15 mark from the free-throw line. Now, he’ll look to lead the Volunteers to victory again.

Earlier this week, Nate Ament was named an All-SEC Second-Team selection and an All-Freshman Team member. No shortage of scouts will be watching Ament against Auburn. In ESPN analyst Jeremy Woo’s latest NBA mock draft, he projected Ament to be the No. 9 overall pick.

“He turned his season around in conference play after a slow start, averaging 19 points in 16 league games and reminding teams why he was so highly rated coming into the season,” Woo wrote. “He has at times left evaluators wanting more, but checks valuable size and skill boxes that should make him a long-term NBA fixture. Whether Ament can take a star leap hinges on the evolution of his shot-creation skills.”

Tennessee and Auburn will square off at 2 p.m. CT in the SEC Tournament. The game will air live on the SEC Network. The winner will advance to the tournament quarterfinals. Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes believes his team is capable of making a postseason run, but knows they must clean up some of their issues.

“We’ve been right there with every team. You look at every team in the country, every team— they’ve had some ups-and-downs, and we’re no different than those guys,” Barnes said. “… We know that we’re going into tournament play now, SEC, and then next week the NCAA. And you’ve got to be at your best. And we’ve had some games this year where we’ve shown that we can be really good, but we’ve got to put it together for 40 minutes.”